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The Ecosystem Workforce Program links ecological health, economic prosperity, and democratic governance through our applied research and policy education.

Summer 2021

Federal Forest Restoration Program working papers 

We have two new working papers highlighting accomplishments from the last biennium of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Federal Forest Restoration Program (FFRP), available on the project webpage: 

• WP 107 highlights accomplishments, including job creation, for each of the FFRP’s six program areas during 2019–2021. 

• WP 108 analyzes the outcomes of collaborative capacity grants, which include continued growth of zones of agreement to guide federal forest restoration and economic impacts from collaboratively planned projects. 

The reports were featured in an ODF press release and covered by several Oregon news outlets.

Long-term stewardship contracting review 

EWP faculty Dr. Emily Jane Davis recently completed a study about long-term stewardship contracts and master stewardship agreements in the Pacific Northwest with support from the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition and USDA Forest Service. This review found that despite challenges in implementing these innovative approaches, there were significant restoration and community economic outcomes. The report also offers new insights into roles of partnerships and collaboration, use of best value criteria, pricing and costs, and interaction between Forest Service staff and external partners or contractors. Read it here!

To learn more about our collaborative work with RVCC, check out our new RVCC projects page!

Monitoring outcomes from the Lakeview CFLR Project 

We have been monitoring the social and economic outcomes for the Lakeview Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Project since it began in 2012 and have a couple new publications, which you can find on the Lakeview CFLR project webpage:

• The most recent biannual report answers socioeconomic monitoring questions for FY 2018–2019 and includes interview perspectives from stakeholders. The monitoring effort found that project funding has provided many opportunities to work across boundaries and use a range of tools, authorities, and agreement types, and the report highlights a variety of long-standing partnerships have been developed as a result.

• In a joint effort with the ecological monitoring team, we have also published a report showing the full  eight years of data answering all of the monitoring questions for the project to date. 

New outlets for wildfire information 

We have been working with the Northwest Fire Science Consortium on several new outlets for communicating about wildfire–please share widely!:

• The Fire Story is a new podcast series in partnership with the UO’s Center for Science Communication Research that looks at wildfire and the public’s connection to it through media and science communication. Episodes focus on topics like media lessons learned, living with smoke, wildfire mitigation policy and logistics; and how collaborative management, agricultural economies, and community partnerships intersect in rangeland fires on Oregon’s eastside. Give it a listen and let us know what topics you want to hear about in future episodes! 

• We have taken several Fire Facts documents and made them accessible in video format! These are meant to provide basic information about wildfire that can help a broad audience to better understand and adapt to wildfire events:

• A new story map provides a wealth of information on wildfire information, background, terminology, and resources to increase your knowledge and understanding of wildland fire and the ways we can all contribute to better fire outcomes. 

New journal articles 

• We have a new article on boundary spanning in wildfire management, authored by EWP faculty Drs. Emily Jane Davis and Heidi Huber-Stearns, along with partners Dr. Tony Cheng from the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute of Colorado State University and Meredith Jacobson of the University of Oregon. View the article here in Fire. This work has been supported by the Joint Fire Science Program.
• A new article written by EWP faculty Drs. Michael Coughlan and Heidi Huber-Stearns, along with Dr. Courtney Schultz from the Public Land Policy Group at Colorado State University highlights a new approach for identifying where, how, and, potentially, why some national forests are making more progress toward incorporating climate-change adaptations into forest planning and management. View the article here in Journal of Forestry. 
• We have a new journal article from our recent research around socioeconomic monitoring for the Northwest Forest Plan: 
  • Changes in Relationships between the USDA Forest Service and Small, Forest-Based Communities in the Northwest Forest Plan Area amid Declines in Agency Staffing. (2021). Journal of Forestry.  https://doi.org/10.1093/jofore/fvab003. 
• A new article from our Resilience in National Forest Planning project has also been published: 

Spring 2021

EWP provides testimony to federal Natural Resources Subcommittee 

EWP senior policy advisor Dr. Cass Moseley recently delivered testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife during an oversight hearing on Building Back Better. Cass’s testimony spoke to the importance of restoring watersheds to support climate resiliency and equitable economic recovery. Her full written testimony is here. 

This testimony builds on our recent policy recommendations from the Conservation Conversations series, which were provided to Biden-Harris transition teams to help frame conservation solutions that can benefit people, environment, and economies.

Perceptions of Wildland Fire Smoke: Literature Review and Synthesis 

EWP faculty Autumn Ellison and Dr. Heidi Huber-Stearns led a recent effort to synthesize scholarly literature around how individuals perceive wildland fire smoke. The resulting publication documents the scope, parameters, and gaps of research to date in this field and was completed as part of our work with the Northwest Fire Science Consortium. The synthesis covers literature in five key themes: 1) Public concern about smoke from prescribed fire, 2) Influences on individual acceptance or tolerance of smoke, 3) Manager perceptions of smoke from wildland fire management actions, 4) Smoke communication needs, and 5) Smoke perceptions and economic impacts. Download the synthesis: Perceptions of Wildland Fire Smoke: Literature Review and Synthesis

Assessment of Early Implementation of the Shared Stewardship Strategy 

Drs. Courtney Schultz and Chad Kooistra at the Public Lands Policy Group (PLPG) at Colorado State University, along with EWP faculty Dr. Heidi Huber-Stearns and partner Dr. Jesse Abrams at the University of Georgia, are jointly conducting a five-year study to understand Shared Stewardship perspectives from agency leadership, state officials, land managers, and other stakeholders. This report captures the first phase of work from 2020, which involved 21 national and 96 state-level interviews across nine states in the West that had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the USFS to formally pursue Shared Stewardship. The primary goal was to understand the main factors affecting the early stages of Shared Stewardship efforts across these states, including key actors’ perspectives on the Strategy and early planning and development efforts, primary opportunities and challenges, and the types of capacities, mechanisms, and direction needed to move ahead successfully with partnerships and Shared Stewardship implementation. Visit the project page and access the report.

Connecting Collaboration, Wellbeing, and Social Science

Working with the High Desert Partnership in Harney County, Oregon, EWP faculty Dr. Emily Jane Davis recently developed resources to support practitioners utilizing social science in collaborative processes. These focus on illuminating how collaboration may connect to wellbeing outcomes, and applicable social science approaches for understanding those.

Working Paper #102: Connecting Collaboration to Wellbeing in Harney County: An Introductory Guide to Using Social Science in Collaborative Processes

Fact Sheet: Collaborative Processes and Connections to Community Wellbeing

Fact Sheet: Considerations for Working with Social Science and Scientists in a Collaborative Setting

The Federal Forest Restoration Program and Good Neighbor Authority accomplishments

We have a new fact sheet showing the activities and outcomes accomplished between 2016 and 2020 under the Oregon Department of Forestry Federal Forest Restoration Program’s (FFRP) use of the Good Neighbor Authority, which allows federal and state agencies to work in partnership to implement watershed and forest management activities on federal lands. The fact sheet illustrates the 10s of 1,000s of acres in restoration service work, timber sales, and contract NEPA projects have been accomplished on Forest Service and BLM land in Oregon through the state program in recent years. More information about the FFRP program and our ongoing monitoring of its impacts, past reports, and the new fact sheet are available on the project webpage.

Factors influencing national forest’s use of climate change assessments

EWP faculty Drs. Michael Coughlan and Heidi Huber-Stearns, along with Dr. Courtney Schultz from the Public Land Policy Group at Colorado State University, designed a pilot survey instrument to explore social and organizational factors influencing the degree to which national forests adopt practices and considerations related to climate change adaptation. The pilot survey targeted management and planning leadership on 24 national forests in Forest Service Regions 1 and 6. A new fact sheet outlines the survey findings, including the results of a “climate change adaptation index” which measures the degree to which national forests are adopting and enacting climate change related practices and activities. It also outlines the pilot’s findings on factors related to national forest supervisor’s office leadership culture and the influence of external stakeholders on forest activities that may affect the degree to which national forests adopt climate change adaptation activities. Implications for national forest policy and practice are outlined.
See the Fact Sheet: Factors Influencing National Forests’ Use of Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments: Findings from a Pilot Study

January 2021

Conservation Conversations policy brief

Following the recent webinar series that we participated in, Conservation Conversations, the collaborative team created a policy document that offers summaries of each Conservation Conversation and highlights some of the observations and recommendations that resulted. This document was provided to members on several Biden-Harris transition teams working on conservation, climate, biodiversity, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice issues. It serves as an introduction to some of the conservation challenges facing the administration in the 21st century as we seek solutions that benefit our people, environment and economies.  

Fall 2020

Rural Youth Futures: Fact sheets for schools and counties 

We have a new project page that showcases a series of fact sheets that we have been working on. The project examines the aspirations of youth in two rural forest-dependent regions: Coos County in Oregon and Piscataquis/Northern Somerset Counties in Maine. Researchers surveyed middle and high school students from 12 schools in these regions, and the fact sheets present results about the perceptions and aspirations of local youth for each participating school and county. 

This project was funded by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture and conducted with partners from Oregon State University (PI: Dr. Mindy Crandall) and the University of Maine, as well as the Appalachian Mountain Club in Maine and Coos Watershed Association in Oregon. More information about the project and all fact sheets are available on the project webpage. Journal articles are also in progress; we look forward to sharing them as they are published!

Resilience in National Forest Planning and Management

Conservation Conversations Webinar

In September, EWP and the Northwest Fire Science Consortium hosted a Conservation Conversations series webinar: From Parallel Play to Co-Management: Conserving Landscapes at Risk of Wildfire in the American West, featuring Cassandra Moseley as moderator, Heidi Huber-Stearns as organizer, and Emily Jane Davis as a speaker. Partners from Colorado State University (Tony Cheng) and Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition (Tyson Bertone-Riggs) also joined the conversation. Find the recorded webinar here. EWP continues to collaborate with other university centers around the western US on this series. Click here to learn more and sign up for the remaining webinars!

Supporting Shared Stewardship

EWP partners with the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition (RVCC) to help address emerging policy and practice needs in the US West. Two of our recent projects have focused on necessary knowledge for successful Shared Stewardship: 

1. Implementation Partnership Opportunities in the Pacific Northwest. This assessment examined the current capacity and future interests of community-based organizations in participating directly in management of national forest land in Washington and Oregon. We found that many CBOs have strong administrative capacities for collaboration, planning, implementation, and monitoring. 

2. Implementing Outcome-Based Performance Measures aligned with the Forest Service’s Shared Stewardship Strategy. This report for the Forest Service offers a new set of outcome- based performance measures that align with the intent of the Shared Stewardship Strategy to work in greater partnership with external stakeholders.While the emphasis of this report is on measuring partnership, it also has useful implications for measuring broader outcomes. 

June 2020

June 2020

Strategies for Increasing Prescribed Fire Application on Federal Lands: Lessons from Case Studies in the U.S. West

With partners from the Colorado State University Public Lands Policy Group and the U.S. Forest Service, we recently released our newest working paper. In this report, we compile lessons learned across four case studies focused on cooperative efforts to increase application of fire in the West. We present individual case studies on units in California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon in the appendices. The working paper, appendices, and our previous publications for this project can all be found on the project webpage. 

February 2020

Social and Economic Monitoring of the Tongass National Forest and Southeast Alaska Communities

Dr. Heidi Huber-Stearns and Faculty Research Assistant Anna Santo completed a project focused on helping the Tongass Transition Collaborative and other stakeholders develop a plan to track social and economic conditions in Southeast Alaska before and after the Tongass National Forest’s transition from harvesting old growth to young growth. This recent work covers: socioeconomic conditions in the area, timber sales, natural resources contracts and collaborative work on the Tongass National Forest, and stakeholder perceptions of how the Transition has impacted the wellbeing of residents in Southeast Alaska.

January 2020

Several EWP staff recently attended the annual meeting of our partners, the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition. This gathering brings together over 100 organizations engaged in land management and community wellbeing in the rural West. Dr. Heidi Huber-Stearns and Faculty Research Assistant Anna Santo helped lead a discussion about performance measures for the US Forest Service’s shared stewardship initiative, while Dr. Emily Jane Davis led a session about fostering safe and equitable workforces on federal lands with partners at the Northwest Forest Worker Center and Lomakatsi Restoration Project. This follows on a workshop that she helped convene on the topic this fall—learn more about our workforce efforts with RVCC here!

December 2019

New Working Paper: Our latest working paper presents updated socioeconomic monitoring results for the Lakeview Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) project, alongside indicators and results from previous reports and a baseline analysis. The paper is available to download at our working papers page.

November 2019

New Working Paper: Our newest working paper, #96, presents a synthesis of the literature on “Social Vulnerability and Wildfire in the Wildland-Urban Interface.” As the realities of fire risk in the Wildland Urban Interface intensify, the synthesis tracks the conceptual debates and emerging insights on social vulnerability from multiple disciplinary and methodological directions. Both the literature synthesis and an annotated bibliography of the literature included are available to download at our working papers page.

October 2019

New article in Science magazine

What kinds of policies and governance approaches will help improve wildfire mangement? Find out in this new article published in Science magazine, by Courtney Schultz (Colorado State University Associate Professor and Director of the Public Lands Policy Group) and EWP Director Cassandra Moseley: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6461/38.

New video on our research!

Another video for the Northwest Fire Science Consortium! This video covers the results of some of the research we worked on around how large wildfires impact local economies during across the U.S. west, from onset to recovery and beyond. Visit the Economic Impacts of Large Wildfires project page. 

New publication: Iconic Places of the USDA Forest Service 

For the final product of this project, we created a book highlighting all of the Forest Service-managed iconic places managed included in the research. A short description and background is included for each location, along with information on establishment, reasons designated, recreation uses, nearby population centers, visitor numbers, and maps showing locations both nationally and in the local landscape. For more information about this project, including all publications, visit the project page. 

September 2019

Fish and Fire: Habitat and History in the Northwest. We just finished up another new video as part of our work for with the Northwest Fire Science Consortium. It includes some really cool animation to show how wildfires can provide beneficial habitat for native fish species, as well as interviews with two research fish biologists who describe how fish in the Pacific Northwest have evolved with wildfire disturbances, and how considering this history can help inform management prescriptions for both wildfire and fisheries. 

August 2019

New working paper out! Wildland Fire Science Needs in Oregon and Washington: Local and Regional Research Availability, Applications, and Gaps.

This research effort was part of our work with the Northwest Fire Science Consortium. The paper presents findings from both in-depth interviews and a larger survey of fire science users in Oregon and Washington, focusing specifically on topics where respondents felt more local, site-specific research was needed. 

July 2019

We have a new working paper and a briefing paper out, based on a National Science Foundation-funded research project studying drivers, governance responses, and social-ecological feedbacks associated with Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreaks on national forestlands in the western U.S.

For more information and publications on this research project: Mountain Pine Beetle Response Project Page.

June 2019

We have TWO new working papers and a new fact sheet out based on our monitoring of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Federal Forest Restoration Program, which is a partnership between the state of Oregon, federal forest managers, and public lands stakeholders to increase forest resilience and economic opportunity on federal forestlands across Oregon. The Oregon state legislature has funded the FFR Program since the state of Oregon’s fiscal year 2014, and these new publications take a look at outcomes over the past 6 years. For more information: FFR Program Monitoring page

May 2019

Several of us at EWP have worked on this article, just released in Society and Natural Resources!: 

“Tracking a Governance Transition: Identifying and Measuring Indicators of Social Forestry on the Willamette National Forest”

April 2019

Working Paper #90: The Financial Picture of Oregon’s Forest Collaboratives, examines how Oregon’s forest collaborative groups are funded. It addresses questions including sources of collaborative funding, diversity of sources, match leveraged, and collaborative preferences for future grant offerings. Check it out today! 

March 2019

In Oregon, the Federal Forest Restoration Program (FFRP) facilitates partnership between the state of Oregon, federal forest managers, and public lands stakeholders to increase forest restoration and economic opportunity on federal forest lands across the state. Our newest fact sheets take a look at some of the impacts of the program, including investments, jobs, and wages generated over the last 6 years (Fact Sheet #15: Oregon’s Federal Forest Restoration Program: FY 2014–2019 Cumulative Accomplishments), and FFRP use of the Good Neighbor Authority (Fact Sheet #16: Federal Forest Restoration Program Use of the Good Neighbor Authority: 2016–2018 activities and outcomes). Click the images below for pdfs of these fact sheets, and find all of our fact sheets here.  

January 2019

We have two new working papers that take a look at recent accelerated restoration efforts in the Blue Mountains Region of eastern Oregon. WP 88: Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities for Collaborative Accelerated Restoration in Oregon’s Blue Mountains presents perceptions and opinions of collaborative group members and other key stakeholders regarding their interpretations of accelerated restoration and the roles and functioning of collaborative groups in the Blue Mountains. WP 89: Restoring Resilience at the Landscape Scale documents the approach to landscape scale planning taken by the Blue Mountains Restoration Strategy’s ID Team, and shares some lessons learned from this effort. Click on the images at left to download the working papers, or find them with all of our working papers at: http://ewp.uoregon.edu/publications/working. A 2-page briefing paper summary is also available (BP 85: Lessons Learned from the Blue Mountains Restoration Strategy Team). 

Fall 2018

Wildfire research and happenings

EWP continues its applied research on organizational and policy dimensions of wildfire in the West:

• Case studies about how wildfire risk may be more effectively “co-managed” across boundaries are currently underway in New Mexico and Oregon with our partners at Oregon State University, Colorado State University, and Utah State University. Learn more about this project.
• EWP director Cassandra Moseley contributed to ongoing wildfire discussions in a recent article in The Conversation about how spiraling wildfire fighting costs are largely beyond the Forest Service’s control.
• We are presenting a webinar through the Northwest Fire Science Consortium on findings thus far from our “Prescribed fire policy barriers” JFSP project, on November 29th, please join us and register here!

Summer 2018

We are happy to welcome the newest member of our team, Research Associate, Michael R Coughlan. Michael is an environmental anthropologist who specializes in socio-ecological systems, historical ecology, quantitative geospatial analyses (GIS), mixed- methods ethnography, and cross-disciplinary collaborations between the social and natural sciences. His research interests focus on discovering how diverse human institutions and behaviors interact with the natural world, specifically in relation to fire and forest management issues and settlement and land use dynamics. In addition to this anthropological perspective, Michael brings interests in spatial analysis and big data analytics that will augment EWP’s research capabilities.

Accomplishing Cross-Boundary Restoration

The US Forest Service has been implementing new initiatives to accelerate cross-boundary, collaborative, and integrated restoration. EWP’s ongoing research is helping to understand and monitor these strategies. We’ve examined lessons learned from the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership and the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. We’ve also explored landscapes without these programs and how they can achieve their goals. Both of these publications and more information on the research effort are available on the project page. 

Iconic Places publication 

We have published working paper #85: Iconic Places of the U.S. Forest Service: Values, Conditions, Challenges, and Opportunities. This paper covers the results from a survey of US Forest Service “iconic places,” which include areas such as national monuments and national scenic, historic, and recreation areas. These areas have been specially designated for the unique qualities that they offer and which merit distinct management and protection. The survey investigated the benefits, challenges, opportunities, and information needs across iconic places. 

Prescribed Fire Policy Barriers and Opportunities

We have been working with the Public Lands Policy Group at Colorado State University on a Joint Fire Science Program-funded project about barriers and opportunities to prescribed fire in the western US. Our first report covers findings from ~60 interviews with state and federal agencies, prescribed fire councils and others involved in prescribed fire work on national forest land or BLM land. The next phases will involve case studies of creative strategies to increase prescribed fire accomplishments, and spatial analysis of prescribed fire activity across the West. Read more about this project and related research in a recent story by 5280 magazine!

Spring 2018

The second book from our “Forest Service and Communities” project is out. This project presents and visualizes data that can help the Forest Service and its partners better understand and communicate the social and economic contexts in which agency operates. Check out the project page for both the year 1 and year 2 books!:  The Forest Service and Communities

November 2017

Over the last decade, the Forest Service has been implementing a series of new initiatives designed to accelerate cross-boundary, collaborative, and integrated restoration. Our newest working paper looks at 2 of these initiatives: the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership and the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. As both initiatives reached the end of their initial funding cycle, we investigated what has worked, what hasn’t, what factors affected success, what value the initiatives added, and lessons we can learn going forward. Read all about what we found in working paper # 81: Strategies for Success Under Forest Service Restoration Initiatives 

October 2017

Wildfires on rangelands across the west have become more numerous and severe. Since the 1990s, numerous Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPAs) have emerged in Oregon and Idaho to improve fire management by organizing and authorizing rancher participation in fire suppression alongside federal agency firefighters. Our newest working paper reports on the establishment, functioning, successes, and challenges of the RFPA model through four case studies. Working Paper #80: Rangeland Fire Protection Associations: An Alternative Model for Wildfire Response

September 2017

2 new working papers take a look at restoration on Oregon’s eastside forests, measuring progress on goals, and monitoring investments. Check out what we found! Working Papers #78 and 79: http://ewp.uoregon.edu/publications/working

August 2017

The concept of “resilience,” which is used with increasing frequency among land management agencies, can be difficult to operationalize. Our newest working paper, #77: Resilience in Land Management Planning: Policy Mandates, Approaches, and Resources, summarizes various frameworks for planning for resilience, providing background and context to support individuals and groups working to implement resilience in various land management planning contexts.

June 2017

We have recently conducted a series of assessments to help a couple Forest Collaboratives identify priorities, opportunites, and ongoing work efforts. Working Papers 74 (Investments and Local Capture on the Ochoco National Forest: Restoration and Timber Contracts, 2006–2015) and 75 (Restoration Contracts and Timber Sales on the Willamette National Forest, Trends and Local Capture, 2011-2015) examine recent restoration contract and timber sale trends and local capture on the Ochoco and Willamette National Forests, and Working Paper 76 (Collaborative Group Assessment: Self-Assessment Tool and Results for the Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative), offers a self-assessment to evaluate health and function within a collaborative group. 

These and all of our working papers are available at: http://ewp.uoregon.edu/publications/working

November 2016

The book documenting the first year of our work on the “Forest Service and Communities” project, in partnership with the Forest Service, is available. For more information and to download by chapter, see the project page at: http://ewp.uoregon.edu/USFScommunities

New working paper: Assessing Policy Impacts on Natural Resource Businesses: A Review of Research Methods

October 2016

Check out our latest working paper, looking at how landowners with riparian property feel about potential changes to riparian buffer rules in Oregon: Landowner Perceptions of Potential Changes to Riparian Rules Under the Forest Practices Act in Oregon 

Our newest working paper is out: Local Capacity for Integrated Forest and Wildfire Management

You can find this along with all of our papers on our publications page.

September 2016

Working Paper #69: Oregon’s State Wood Energy Team: A Grant Program Review

August 2016

2 new working papers hot off the press—these working papers examine community-based organizations, and their role in rural development and job creation through land stewardship.  

# 67: Community-Based Organizations in the U.S. West: Status, Structure, and Activities

# 68: Economic Development and Public Lands: The Roles of Community-Based Organizations

June 2016

New working paper! #66: Adminstrative and Judicial Review of NEPA Decisions: Risk Factors and Risk Minimizing Strategies for the Forest Service

April 2016

As “accelerated restoration” projects are implemented in Northeastern Oregon, local economic benefits depend on local contractor ability to receive and perform contracts. Our newest working paper examines contractor perspectives and capacity for increased restoration activity in the region. Download Working Paper #65: Implementation of Accelerated Restoration in Northeastern Oregon: Local Contractor Capacity and Perspectives.

February 2016

New working paper, #64: Economic Outcomes from the U.S. Forest Service Eastside Strategy, investigates economic outcomes from the Eastside Restoration Strategy of the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service. The Eastside Strategy includes several initiatives to increase the pace and scale of restoration on forests east of the Cascade Mountains in OR and WA.

January 2016

Our most recent working paper, #63: Good Neighbor Authority in Oregon: Comparison of State and Federal Contracting Provisions, examines the similarities and differences for treatment of forest workers and small or disadvantaged businesses in Oregon between 2 enacted versions of the Good Neighbor Authority, which allows state agencies to perform restoration work on federal lands. This paper was a collaboration between Oregon Department of Forestry, EWP, and the UO Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center.

November 2015

Check out our newest working paper, #62: A Third-Party Evaluation of the IRR Pilot: Report From Phase 3: Stakeholder Outreach and Engagement, on the final phase of our evaluation of the Integrated Resource Restoration Pilot that has been ongoing in Forest Service regions 1,3, and 4.

October 2015

We have had a full handful of working papers come out in the last couple of months, including:

WP 57: Monitoring of Outcomes From Oregon’s Federal Forest Health Program

WP 58: An Assessment of Federal Restoration Contracting and Contractor Capacity in Northeastern Oregon

WP 59: Social and Economic Monitoring for the Southern Blues Restoration Coalition Project, Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013

WP 60: Lakeview Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Project Monitoring Plan

WP 61: Private Contracting on National Forest Lands: Preseason Contracting and Fire Response (part of the Managing the Market project)

Check out these, and more on our working papers page!

September 2015

We are happy to welcome the newest member of our team, Postdoctoral Research Scholar Heidi Huber-Stearns. Heidi’s interests are in natural resources social science, specializing in ecosystem services and forest and water policy, and strongly focused on interdisciplinary and actionable research. She is working on projects at EWP that focus on the intersection of ecology, economy, and governance across a range of issues relevant to forest disturbance and western public lands management. This includes projects on wildfire suppression, developing local workforce capacity, mountain pine beetle infestation, and social and economic impacts of public land management. Having grown up on a cattle ranch in Oregon, Heidi has returned from Colorado State University where she completed her PhD in Forest Sciences.

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Check out this new article, “Re-envisioning community-wildfire relations in the U.S. West as adaptive governance,” just published in Ecology and Society, an open-access (article is free to download) journal, that many of us at EWP have worked on over the last year:

http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol20/iss3/art34/

This was part of the Wildfire Resilience project

July 2015

We are hiring!!

EWP is looking to fill a primarily quantitative social science Faculty Research Associate position. Please see the full job description here!

June 2015

New working paper, #56: Community Experiences with Wildfire: Actions, Effectiveness, Impacts, and Trends. This paper reports the results of 2 surveys with county official and community leaders in communities recently affected by large wildfires.

May 2015

We recently gave a webinar on our Drivers of Wildfire Suppression Costs synthesis (WP#53, download here). The webinar was recorded, and can be viewed on YouTube here.

New working paper #55: Social and Economic Monitoring for the Lakeview Stewardship Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project.

March, 2015

We have four new fact sheets and one new working paper just out!

Fact sheets:

February, 2015

We have TWO more new working papers just released! Check them out:

February, 2015

New publications! Check out Briefing Paper #61: “The Effectiveness of Biomass Policies in Supporting Business Investments in Oregon: Preliminary Results,” and Working Paper #52: “Socioeconomic Monitoring Plan for the U.S. Forest Service’s Eastside Restoration Efforts.” Several additional publications will be out in the very near future as well- stay tuned!

September, 2014

We have released six new publications from our Community Wildfire Resilience research project: 1 working paper, 2 briefing papers, and 3 fact sheets. Find publications and read more on the project webpage.

Research assistant/ associate open pool:

Our research assistant/ associate pool for positions at the Institute for a Sustainable Environment is open through next year. The purpose of the announcement is to identify highly motivated researchers from a variety of social and social science disciplines interested in joining the Institute for a Sustainable Environment to assist with or lead nationally-relevant natural resource, environmental, and sustainability research. The posting can be viewed here. We hope to hear from you!

March, 2014

EWP releases final products from the Dry Forest Zone project: Working Paper # 48: Stewarding Forests and Communities: The Final Report of the Dry Forest Zone Project, and the final map packet of 2014 conditions in the Dry Forest Zone. Additional information about this project can be found on the project page.

EWP has also just released Working Paper #47: Evaluating the Integrated Resource Restoration Line Item: Results from Phase I which presents a third-party review of the Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR) budgetary approach that has been implemented on a pilot basis for three years in USFS Regions 1, 3, and 4.

To browse all of EWP’s publications, visit our publications page.

February 28, 2014

EWP releases 3 new publications: 1 working paper and 2 briefing papers! Working Paper #46: The Impacts of the Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program in Eastern Oregon and Eastern Arizona examines the impacts and outcomes of a biomass grant program in two rural areas. Briefing Paper #53: Impacts of the Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program in Eastern Oregon summarizes the findings from this research for the Eastern Oregon area. And Briefing Paper 54: Surveys Find Support for EWEB’s Voluntary Incentives Program reports the results of surveys sent to both landowners in the McKenzie River Watershed and water utility users whose drinking water comes from the McKenzie River, to gauge the willingness of customers and landowners participation in a program that would pay landowners to maintain healthy riparian forests. To browse all of EWP’s publications, visit our publications page.

January 6, 2014

EWP releases Working Paper #45: Impacts of the Biomass Producer or Collector Tax Credit on Oregon’s Wood Fuels Market and Economy: Update and Alternate Scenario Consideration. This paper updates & brings new considerations to our previous research (WP #32) on the impacts of a biomass tax credit on Oregon’s economy and markets. To browse all of EWP’s publications, visit our publications page. 

August 15, 2013

EWP releases its second state restoration calculator: The “Economic Impacts of Restoration Calculator for Montana Counties.” With the calculator, any agency or organization in Montana can understand the local economic activity resulting from forest and watershed restoration projects in their state, including predicted employment, wages, and overall impact. Check out our calculators–and many other tools for the restoration economy–on our restoration tools page.

August 6, 2013

EWP releases Working Paper #44–Forest and Watershed Restoration in Linn County, Oregon: Economic Impacts, Trends, and Recommendations, which provides the results of an ecosystem workforce assessment for the Sweet Home All-Lands Collaborative (SHALC), examines trends in restoration activity, and offers a series of recommendations to increase the impacts of restoration work in the area.

May 13, 2013

EWP releases 4 briefing papers for one of its “payments for ecosystem services” (PES) projects:

BP 49: Barriers and Preferences for Landowner Participation in Conservation Programs in the Interior Northwest

BP 50: The Money Doesn’t Deliver Itself: The Importance of Intermediaries in Ecosystem Services Programs

BP 51: From Postage Stamp to Puzzle Piece: Conservation Easement Strategy in the Interior Northwest

BP 52: Eco-labels on the Range and in the Forests of the Interior Northwest

This project looks at how family forest and ranch owners are prospering from protecting and enhancing ecosystem services on their land. Learn more about the project here. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

February 26, 2013

EWP releases the 2013 Dry Forest Investment Zone Map Packet (7.6mb). The maps look at current conditions in the DFZ including collaborative groups, the community capacity and land stewardship program, rural development and cooperative program spending, stewardship contracting acres treated, contracts for restoration-related work, unemployment rate and trends, the wood-to-energy market, and more. For more information on the Dry Forest Zone, visit the project page.

December 6, 2012

EWP releases the final products for its “Economic Impacts of Large Wildfires” project. The project analyzes the effects of large wildfires on local labor markets and examines how fire suppression spending may mediate these effects. The main findings and all products (5 working papers and 5 briefing papers) can be found on the project page here.

November 26, 2012

EWP is seeking a full-time post-doctoral scholar in biomass and natural resource policy. This scholar will conduct research on two interdisciplinary woody biomass energy policy studies as well as other natural resource policy projects. Requires Ph.D. in a social science field such as natural resource social science, economics, geography, political science, anthropology, or other related field; and excellent writing skills and high English proficiency. Prefer scholar with research interests and experience in applied policy analysis and natural resource social science; general statistical skills; and proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese. Application review will begin Jan 1, 2013. For additional information or to apply visit the UO Jobs page

September 12, 2012

EWP releases Briefing Paper #44: Economic Effects of Large Fires: Application to the Cold Springs Fire (10.6mb), which describes the suppression spending and employment impacts of the Cold Springs wildfire and other fires in southern Washington.

September 7, 2012

EWP releases Working Paper #40: Federal Investments in Natural Resource-Based Economic Development in Oregon, which analyzes USDA Forest Service and Rural Development investments in the state in recent years. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

September 7, 2012

EWP releases two studies about community-based organizations in natural resource management. Working Paper #39: Community-Based Natural Resource Management in Oregon: a Profile of Organizational Capacity describes the financial, human, and partnership capacities of these groups; and Working Paper #38: The Social and Livelihood Benefits of USDA Forest Service Agreements with Community-Based Organizations examines the benefits that community-based organizations can create when working with the Forest Service. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

September 7, 2012

EWP releases Economic Development and Sustainable Forest Stewardship in the Dry Forest Zone: a Mid-Term Report, which examines the impacts and accomplishments of the Dry Forest Zone project at its halfway point. Go to our Dry Forest Zone page to learn more about this project.

June 29, 2012

EWP releases three new resources to help integrate social and economic benefits into ecological restoration on public lands. Developing Socioeconomic Performance Measures Related to the Watershed Condition Framework outlines strategies for developing new social and economic performance measures related to the Forest Service’s Watershed Condition Framework and restoration on public lands more generally. Two Quick Guides provide strategies for enhancing collaboration and local economic benefit from restoration work: A Quick Guide for Incorporating Collaboration into the Watershed Condition Framework; and A Quick Guide for Creating High-Quality Jobs Through Restoration on National Forests.

Find all three publications along with several briefing papers summarizing our findings on our socioeconomic benefits page. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

April 13, 2012

EWP releases Working Paper 34: The Economic Impacts of Oregon’s South Coast Restoration Industry. This study examines forest and watershed restoration activity on Oregon’s South Coast, and suggests ways to increase community benefits and business capacity. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

December 7, 2011

EWP releases Working Paper 32: Impacts of the Biomass Producer or Collector Tax Credit on Oregon’s Wood Fuels Market and Economy, which suggests that a state tax credit to facilitate biomass utilization has helped support Oregon jobs and a competitive wood fuels market. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

November 17, 2011

EWP releases Working Paper 33: Fire science needs in the Pacific Northwest, which describes fire science use and delivery needs in the diverse community of wildfire managers and practitioners. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

October 25, 2011

EWP releases Briefing Paper 33: Impacts of the Biomass Producer or Collector Tax Credit on Oregon’s Wood Fuels Market and Economy. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

September 13, 2011

EWP releases two working papers: Working Paper 30: The Lost Summer: Community Experiences of Large Wildfires in Trinity County, California and Working Paper 31: Fire Suppression Costs and Impacts of the 2008 Wildfires in Trinity County, California present results of a case study on the economic impacts of wildfires on rural communities. Go to publications to browse all of EWP’s working and briefing papers.

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